This is the third recorded time that Jesus and those around Him have heard the voice of the Father. The first was at the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:11) and the second at the transfiguration (Mark 9:7). All three times that God spoke audibly from heaven, Jesus had just made a decision to not take the easy way out, but to instead follow the direction of the Father. It seems that the Father’s pride in His Son and the decisions His Son was making was so great that He couldn’t help but talk about Him.

Mark 1:11  And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Mark 9:7  Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

The rabbis called the audible voice of God ‘bath qol’  which literally means “the daughter of a voice,” which is an echo. They thought it to be inferior to prophecy since God supposedly no longer spoke directly to men. They knew that God used to speak to men (1Sam 3:1-14, 1Kings 19:1-18, Job 4:16); but at the time of Jesus they thought that He no longer used that method, since He had been silent for 430 years. They thought the bath qol wasn’t the direct voice of God; it was more of an echo, or a whisper. When it spoke, it usually quoted scripture. But Jesus didn’t hear the bath qol; He heard the powerful voice of God Himself and so did those around Him.

1 Samuel 3:1-14  The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
  One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.  The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.  Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.”  And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.  Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”  Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.  The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realised that the LORD was calling the boy.  So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”  And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.  At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end.  For I told him that I would judge his family for ever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them.  Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

1 Kings 19:1-18  Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.  So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”  Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,  while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”  Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”  He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.  The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”  So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
  The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.  Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.  Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.  Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Job 4:16  It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:

God speaks to us in much the same way. He doesn’t whisper or speak in an echo; He talks directly to us in words or thoughts we can understand. God does not leave us to fumble around and find our own way; He directs our path. He talks to us and tells us what He wants us to do. How can you hear God? Open His Word and open your heart. Spend at least half of your prayer time listening instead of talking.

The words that God the Father speaks here are, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  What are the circumstances when God “will glorify” His name through Christ? It is through the cross. When had He glorified His name through Christ in the past? Through the teaching, miracles, and obedience of Christ. These words are the Divine seal of confirmation on the past and future work of Christ.